Tech giant, startups in political crossfire

With the violence in JNU and the CAA-NRC issue reverberating across India, tech giants and startups are getting caught in the crossfire. Policybazaar, Zoho and Accenture are among those who are being forced to take sides.

In Policybazaar's case, it has, paradoxically, hired actors from opposite ends of the political spectrum - Akshay Kumar and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub - for its ad campaigns.

And #BoycottPolicybazaar was trending all morning on Monday after actor Ayyub openly supported the JNU, Jamia, and Shaheen Bagh protests.

BJP's Mumbai spokesperson Suresh Nakhua was among those who called for a boycott and asked the Soft-Bank-backed company if they supported the actor's stand.

In Zoho's case, entrepreneurs including Nikhil Pahwa, A Ladak, and Sachin Tandon said they would no longer do business with the company or buy its products after CEO Sridhar Vembu defended his decision to attend an RSS event in Chennai.

Accenture India MD Rama S Ramachandran is also in the spotlight for his decision to attend the same event, with some employees feeling his actions are questionable as Accenture's code of conduct does not allow participation in political events in a professional capacity.

Scheduled on February 2, the two will share the stage with Anirudha Deshpande, the chief of All India Public Outreach at RSS. Some Twitter users wondered if the corporate policy of a global tech giant such as Accenture allowed for its representatives to align themselves with specific ideologies. They also tagged Accenture's global CEO Julie Sweet, requesting intervention.

A few wondered what signals such participation would send to employees from minority communities.

Tandon tweeted, "Not going to call for a boycott, since to each his own. But I'm in a position to cancel all business with @zoho thanks to @svembu's participation in this event."

Amid the backlash, Vembu took to Twitter to say that his views do not depend on Twitter attacks. "If you dislike which events I attend, please do what your conscience dictates, and I will do what mine dictates. We earn our daily bread due to our work and we will continue to do quality work. I won't be responding to attacks," he wrote.

There was also support for Vembu and Ramachandran, with users saying it was their personal prerogative, and noting that others like Abdul Kalam and Ratan Tata have also attended RSS events.

Last year, Zomatotook a strong stand when a user said he had cancelled an order on the platform since the delivery boy assigned was a non-Hindu. Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal said he wasn't sorry to lose any business from such consumers who come in the way of the company's values. Likewise in April 2018, when a VHP member cancelled a ride because the driver was Muslim, Ola put out a strong statement saying, "The company is a secular platform and it does not discriminate."

Lloyd Mathias, a business and marketing strategist, said in today's 'activist economy' a brand's value and values are becoming intertwined and indistinguishable.